One Dream
by Masquerade
Summary: Anakin Skywalker's life as a slave boy. A good source of official info about Ani. Please review!
1. Default Chapter Title

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What if dreams came true? And you can be who you wanted to be, and you could do what you wanted to do, and you could help who you wanted to help? What if dreams came true, and the worlds opened up, and you were never, ever afraid? What *if* dreams came true? But dreams do come true, don't they?

~Anakin Skywalker

One Dream

By Masquerade

All characters are © George and Lucas Films

For reader convenience, all Huttese is translated to Basic.

Prologue: Five Days Before the Boonta…

"Two days until you die." Sebulba reminded with a snarl. "Enjoy them." With that, he left young Anakin alone. Anakin didn't budge from his spot, he just watched the Dug walk away and disappear around the corner of town. Anakin didn't fear the man anymore; he understood why he was scared of Sebulba and nothing about his rival could frighten him. So, as Sebulba was out of sight, Anakin smiled and looked back at Jira, who was sitting behind her fruit vendor.

"Don't let him get to you, Annie." The old woman encouraged. "He's just an old grouch who doesn't know what he's saying."

"I know." Anakin nodded, turning back to Jira. "I haven't found that cooling system yet, but I'll keep looking for it, Jira."

"Oh, you're a good soul, Annie." Jira phrased. "Thank yah very much."

"No problem."

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Chapter 1: First Flight

Anakin Skywalker was only seven years old at the time; a hopeful youth with plenty of dreams going through his head. He was a slave, like his mother, and he worked for his master in the junk shop in downtown Mos Espa. Anakin would mostly clean parts, keep shop, and gather more parts for his master, Watto, to sell. Anakin's mother, Shmi, was a house servant for Watto, one of his many. She and Anakin were the two most prized slaves in Watto's possession, and he treated them more decently than the others he had. Watto always said that Anakin was special, with a strange gift of knowledge that could free him one day. Anakin had never hoped for freedom, because a slave could never earn the cost out of bondage. Still, it was a dream to add to his collection stored in his head.

Among Anakin's sanctuary of "days off" were his friends. Anakin knew that he had a lot of friends, and among them was Kitster. Kitster was a fellow slave with a dream as well. Unlike Anakin, Kitster didn't want to be freed; instead he wanted to work as a majordomo for a wealthy slave owner. Kitster certainly had the manners and hospitality of such an occupation, and was certain to get the job. Wealthy slave owners paid well if the slaves did a very good job.

Melee was also another friend of his. She was a spunky ten-year-old human girl that used to be a bully to Anakin. She was not a slave, and he was. Still, even as Anakin was bullied about his status on Tatooine, he still treated her equally when they were together. Melee soon grew tired of teasing the boy, and became friends with him. Melee would sometimes come over to Anakin's hovel to watch over him when Shmi was out working in Watto's house. Melee was more mussel than brains, and not exactly the brightest person in the world, but she was really good at sports.

Anakin's mother, Shmi, couldn't really be considered one of Anakin's friends, simply because she was Anakin's mother. She was a young, pretty woman, who had every hope that Anakin would make a difference in the world. She knew that there was something special about the boy, but she could never put her finger on it. He was a very bright boy, and had a curiosity that didn't have a limit. Like all small children, adventurous Anakin wanted to learn how everything worked. Money was almost of no importance to him, he put the needs of the ones he loved most before his own, and he loved to help others. He was so generous and innocent that he was impossible to hate. Shmi was always so proud of Anakin, and didn't have much to reward her son with except dinner, and his droid-building hobby.

Anakin was a boy of dreams. On the job or off, Anakin was always dreaming about another life elsewhere in the galaxy. But more than anything, Anakin wanted to be a pilot. Sure, he was learning how to drive a speeder, and he was studying the basics of podracing, but he wanted to fly starships or trading vessels to other planets. He wanted to see the galaxy outside of Tatooine. A spacer told him that Anakin could see the galaxy just by walking around the space ports of Tatooine, because every specie in the galaxy finds its way to the planet sooner or later. And every outlander or spacer that arrives on Tatooine brings its own culture and beliefs to the planet temporally. Anakin shook his head at the spacer and said, "Of course, but it wouldn't be the same as actually flying away to see it for yourself." Anakin heard all about the dangerous predators of Corrilia, the smelly swamps of Toydaria, the cities built in the landscapes of Alderaan, of the underwater cities of Mon Calimari, of the towering trees on the Sanctuary Moon of Endor, the enormous city that covered the planet of Coruscant, and the Floating Islands that lingered in the clouds of the Iago Moons. Anakin wanted to see them for himself, instead of waiting for these worlds to come to him. It was a dream to hang on to, because anything was possible in this universe.

************************************

It began like a typical day. Anakin was woken by his mother for breakfast. The breakfast was quick yet filling, as always. Anakin packed up his tools and work clothes, and walked four blocks to Watto's junk shop. Anakin went straight out to the junkyard in the back of the shop, and to the podracer he was helping to repair. The pod belonged to his favorite racer: Sebulba! The Dug had to be the greatest podracer in the entire galaxy, even better than Gasgano. Anakin was a big fan of Sebulba's, after all, he was the racer that Watto betted on with the prize being Anakin and his mother.

Anakin's absolute favorite racer, however, had to be the young Namu Yagar. Although everyone would shake their heads in mention of the name, or break Anakin the "bad news" whenever the boy mentioned him, Anakin still loved him. Of course, everyone knew that Namu Yagar was actually a girl named Noko Mooncrystal who disguised herself as a boy just so that she could enter a podrace. Mooncrystal was a 15-year-old human, so of course she lost, but not without a spectacular show. Anakin was only 5 at the time, but it got him interested in the art of podracing. He had been a podracing fan since "the mysterious Namu-san" raced that infamous Boonta. As for Mooncrystal, she had been working as Sebulba's hired mechanic at the time, and still was. She almost got fired for her actions as Namu Yagar though.

Noko Mooncrystal, also known as Walker to her friends, was already working on the Sebulba's pod with a few pit droids. Sebulba was no where in sight. Noko noticed Anakin arriving, and waved to him slightly. Anakin quickly went to work as he greeted Sebulba's biggest fan.

"Hey Walker."

"Hey 'Walker." Noko smiled. She called Anakin 'Walker rather than his actual nickname, Annie, because it was short for "Skywalker." It was also a play on her nickname. "I need you to replace the crystal output screen on the monitor for me. I need to get to work on the fuel tanks."

"Okay." Anakin chirped, running for the pod control. The cockpit was shaped like a dagger, giving a fearsome touch to Sebulba's pod. The pod was in rather questionable condition, seeing that it was really beaten up, as if he rammed into land formations and such objects on purpose. Anakin had also noticed something strange about the pod during the couple of days he was helping to fix it: just above the combustion chambers were strange attachment sockets. What would Sebulba attach to his enormous pod? Anakin found out from other sources that it wasn't healthy to question Sebulba's pod unless there was something positive to ask about it, and so he didn't. As Anakin gathered the new monitor screen to replace the cracked one on the instrument panel, he tried to start up a conversation with Noko.

"Some people say that Sebulba's pod is too big to be in the races." He said casually. "They say it's illegal size." Well, the people knew better than to say that. It was actually Anakin's own thoughts when he examined the engines a little more closely.

"No they don't." Walkabout shook her head, accepting a hydrospanner from a pit droid. "And if they did, I would know about it." Noko only told Anakin about her spying that she did for Sebulba before a race. She would always gather information about a racer and his pod for the Dug to study. She never bragged about the pay she got for her day job, probably because the pay was good.

"Well, that's what I heard." Anakin shrugged. He took a file from a nearby toolbox, and sat in the uncomfortably small cockpit seat to take out the cracked crystal screen. Noko didn't answer him.

"So, how's tricks?" Noko took her turn striking up a conversation as she poked her head into the engines. She had an extremely dangerous job, repairing and building podracers, because the engines were usually large and deafening. Pod mechanics had to be extremely cautious around pod engines, whether they were activated or not.

"Not much." Anakin shook his head. He was secretly working on a podracer himself, but he only told his most trusted friends. Although Noko was good at keeping secrets, being a spy and all, she was a friend with Sebulba, and there was no telling what she could blurt out to him by accident. Anakin wanted his pod to be a secret until he could find a use for it. He was also working on a droid to help his mother around the house when Anakin was out, but he kept that top secret to only his mother. If anyone found out about his droid, then Watto would find out, and probably sell it. Anakin had really been working hard, but he didn't want to mention that to Noko.

"I see." Noko nodded, not looking at Anakin. She just worked professionally at the bright orange Split-X engines. Anakin really admired Sebulba's pod: a Collor Pondrat Plug-F Mammoth with Split-X configuration. The only thing about it was that it was really, really big. It was illegally big to Anakin. It could be seen from the back row of the Mos Espa Grand Arena without binoculars. Anakin knew this for a fact; he had been to many a podrace with Sebulba in it. Anakin quickly went to work on that screen, and replacing it with the new one. Noko busied herself with other parts of the pod, such as the wearing paint and rusty components. The strange attachment sockets also needed her attention for some strange reason. Anakin tried to pay no mind as he began to fiddle with the instruments to see if the screen worked properly. The pod operated with Huttese words, easy for Anakin to read. According to his readouts, everything appeared to be in order, except for the coolant, which needed to be replaced due to a strange burnout. Anakin quickly reported the problem to Noko, who had yanked her head out of the combustion chamber at the end of the engines.

"The coolant?" Noko called back to Anakin, the echoing ocean-like noise of the empty combustion chamber clouding her hearing momentarily. "Thanks." She walked off to purchase one from Watto. Anakin just ran his hands over the controls to the pod, admiring the craftsmanship of the pod. It was designed to fit Dugs, which would explain why Anakin had a tight squeeze trying to fit in the cockpit seat. Plus it was extremely complex: it had to be operated with four hands. Probably due to the fact that Dug's used their feet for hands as well as their walking pair of hands. Anakin reached over to grab the throttle levers just on the sides of the control panel, and pumped them back and forth. It took a lot of strength just to do that. Sebulba must have made sure that his pod was thief proof. It took just a little more than a typical Dug to pilot Sebulba's pod. It was almost downright impossible.

Noko came back shortly with the coolant, and replaced it just underneath where Anakin was sitting. She chuckled lightly at the sight of Anakin sitting in Sebulba's podracer. "Are you stuck?" she asked before installing the coolant. 

"It's a tight fit, but I'm alright." Anakin smiled as his face tinted red slightly.

"Okay," Noko accepted, sliding underneath the cockpit on her back, "but Sebulba's not going to race a pod with you attached to it." They shared a laugh as Noko began replacing the old coolant with a new one. Anakin continued to satisfy his curiosity of Sebulba's pod by pushing buttons and playing with levers and switches to see what they did. He was cautious not to start the engines, but he did start up the energy binders that linked the massive engines together. Noko flinched at the sound, and peeked out just to see what it was. She gave Anakin a warning look before crawling back under the pod. Anakin kept the binders on, knowing that the pod wasn't going anywhere. He just continued to find out what did what. A couple of the buttons looked like duds, since pushing them didn't do anything accept make a strange clicking noise snap from the engines. He curiously asked Noko what the buttons did, but she didn't give him an answer. She just scowled at the button in question, warned Anakin how curiosity killed the womp rat, and went back to work.

After what seemed like forever, Noko was finally finished. She gave the old coolant to Anakin. "Here." She offered. "You like to tinker around with things. Here's a new project for you. I know that Seb won't miss it."

"Thanks." Anakin gasped, giving Noko a hug. Noko laughed.

"No problem. Seb or I have no need for it." She explained. "And if you really want it, it's yours."

"I want it. Thank you so much." Anakin could probably use it for his pod if he could bring it to a reasonable condition. He set the coolant by his tools, and sat back in the seat of the pod. Noko mussed his hair a bit.

"You look so cute in that." She smiled. "It's a pity that there's never a camera around when you need one."

Suddenly, from the shop, came the tiny "ding-dum" of someone entering Watto's shop. Noko looked towards the shop.

"That should be Seb." Noko assumed. "You better get out of that pod before he sees you in it, or he'll hate you 'till the day you die." With that, Noko walked back to the shop. Anakin almost didn't hear her. He was staring at the ignition switch. This was his chance to see if he could actually fly a pod for himself. He always wanted to, he was even building a pod that he would race in before he could sell it. If he was going to sell his homemade pod, he had to win a few races with it before it could be worth anything. And to win a podrace, he had to know how to fly a pod. He had been fixing pods for a while now, he should be able to understand it well enough to fly it.

Anakin looked at the shop, hearing the faint voices of Watto and Sebulba chatting away about whatever. Nobody was around except for some of the idle pit droids. Anakin figured he could take the pod for a quick test drive and bring it right back. Nobody would know it was gone. Anakin started the engines, and checked his instruments. Everything read full, normal, and positive. It was ready to race. Anakin grabbed the throttle levers as the gust of quickly moving engines blasted in his face. Anakin pulled down his wielding goggles to protect his eyes, closed his eyes in concentration, then yanked back on the throttle levers. The pod zoomed instantly for the exit it was pointed towards. It narrowly passed through the exit way and soared for the city back lots before it with a deafening roar and mechanized "CHK CHK CHK CHK CHK!" 

Anakin screamed as the pod flew at its top speed, 515 miles an hour, through the barely crowded streets. Anakin steered quickly and franticly past buildings and other vehicles. The pod moved with ease past all obstacles under Anakin's guidance like an obedient beast of burden. Then it was open desert outside of the city. The only potential obstacles now were the sand dunes before him. Anakin's fear suddenly turned to excitement, and he started laughing as he carefully guided the pod. He found that he didn't really need four hands to operate the pod, he just had to pump either the left or right throttle to steer in desired directions. He could steer with one hand, and use the other for the complex matrix of buttons and levers on the control panel. 

The control screen was in Huttese and easy to read, but half a million readings a second scrolled along the screen, and it practically distracted Anakin's attention trying to keep up with it. Sebulba had done a lot of work to keep others from sabotaging or stealing his pod, and Anakin found that to be true by trying to steer the pod away from what would be a big obstacle: the Xelric Draw. However the throttles were hard to push and pull due to its weight, and it was hard enough for Anakin trying to operate it while it was still. Moving over 800 kilometers an hour made it especially difficult to maneuver the pod, and it was headed straight for the infamous canyon rip known as the Xelric Draw. The pod was going way too fast to navigate through it successfully. Anakin could only think of one thing to do if he couldn't turn: stop the pod.

Anakin lessened the burning of fuel and stomped on the brake petal with both his feet to get it to budge. The petal was very stubborn, and would only act under the strength of a Dug named Sebulba. With no brakes and no steerage, Anakin was on the verge of panic as he entered the draw. Anakin desperately pushed and yanked on the steering throttles to get the pod to turn, and was just barely successful. Again, the pod was faithful as the very small tugs on the throttles steered it sharply around turns and rock formations. Anakin found himself zigzagging to keep the pod in one piece. The pod was inches away from hitting the walls or anything solid, very close shaves for poor young Anakin. He tried to be strong and not to be afraid, and he found that to be quite difficult after the first few sharp turns in the canyon. Finally after a few more zigzags, Anakin felt comfortable with the pod, and was starting to become accustomed to what did what, how much pressure to put on the throttles, and what would work under his strength and what wouldn't.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this!" Anakin called to himself, smiling suddenly. Then he started laughing as he slowly began to realize what he was doing. "Ha ha ha! I'm flying a pod! I'm a podracer! Whooooooo-hoooooo!" He started to enjoy himself, the turns and zigzagging started to relax him. The pod was like a friend now, responding quietly, quickly, and very obediently. Anakin knew now that he could do this. He had taken the first step to becoming a podracer. 

Before he knew it, the Xelric Draw passed without incident, and it was back to open desert. Anakin steered around the canyon and back to Mos Espa. He loved podracing, and he loved his experience. He could have been killed, or injured, or crashed Sebulba's beloved pod, but he did neither of the three. He had gotten the pod through a dangerous canyon without harming it or himself. He had the gift, he just knew it now. One day, he would enter a podrace, and show all of Tatooine how good he was at this. However, he needed more practice. He would have to train hard to become a podracer, and then he'd show them that he was special, and that nothing was impossible.

Anakin slowed the pod down by lessening the pressure to the afterburners, and once again trying the brake pedal, this time with both of his feet and one hand. Keeping the pod flying straight, Anakin pushed hard on the brake, and got it to budge just a few inches. The pod slowed by 100 miles and hour. Anakin pushed harder until he got the pod going to only 200 miles an hour, a speed he could concentrate by. Slowly taking his hand off the brake, he switched the speed setting and afterburners to their slowest possible measurement, and the pod glided to a slow and steady 10. Anakin then pushed as hard as he could with both hands and feet on the brake, and the pod stopped. Anakin cut the ignition, and the engines silenced with a loud sigh. 

Anakin sighed too, resting his head on the now quiet control panel. His ears were ringing from the loud "CHK CHK CHK CHK CHK" of the engines and his face was numb from the wind and sand whipping at his face. His wielding goggles provided little protection to his scratchy eyes or the headache that Anakin acquired suddenly. He was shaking all over from his excitement and fright from the race. His heart was pounding, and his breathing was rapid from the excitement. It was the greatest thing he had ever done in his life. He loved it, and he wanted to fly it again, now knowing what to expect from the pod. He started laughing, his body shook over and over as he laughed hard and happily. He definitely wanted to podrace now, and he knew that he could do it.

"Annie!" he heard someone call to him. He looked up as he calmed his laughter down. He saw three people coming towards him, two of them were at a run.

"My pod!" a familiar voice scratched like nails on chalkboard. "What did that slave scum do to my pod?! I'll kill 'em!"

"'Walker, are you alright?" Noko asked, running up to Anakin. She looked worried. "What happened? Are you hurt, kid?"

"I'm fine." Anakin answered simply. Then he started laughing again. He was still nerved from his flight, and the feeling was weird.

"And now he's laughing!" the scratchy voice scorned. "He better stop laughing before I slap that mouth off his face!"

"Boy!" another familiar voice shouted at Anakin. Anakin immediately stopped laughing, and squeaked in fear. It was Watto. "What in the world are you doing, flying Sebulba's pod? You know you could have crashed it or killed yourself, eh boy?"

"Yeah." The man with the scratchy voice snarled, jumping on the pod in front of Anakin. Sebulba, the man, stuck his ugly snout inches from Anakin's face. "What were you doing flying Sebulba's pod, eh?" Anakin tried to sink down into the cockpit of the pod, but he found himself too big to fit any further down.

"Uh…" Anakin began nervously as Sebulba's head sank in sync with Anakin's. "I was just…test driving it…just to see if…"

"Test driving?" Sebulba snarled. "TEST DRIVING?! I TEST DRIVE MY OWN PODS, THANK YOU VERY LITTLE!" Anakin shrank away from Sebulba one last time, but the Dug just stuck his head out with Anakin. The boy could feel Sebulba's hot breath on his face, and the feel made him cringe. "YOU COULD HAVE CRASHED MY FRIKKIN POD NO THANKS TO YOUR STUPID LOGIC THAT HUMANS CAN PODRACE! WHY YOU LITTLE WORMO, I COULD…"

"Whoa! Whoa! Calm down." Noko broke in, putting her hands on Anakin's shoulders. "He's just a kid, Seb. Go easy on him."

"I hold back on nobody, Walker." Sebulba snarled, not withdrawing his threatening position.

"Hey, back away from my slave." Watto ordered the Dug. "If you hurt my boy, you pay me for damage of my property." The Dug didn't respond right away. He just lingered for a few moments before snorting his foul breath on Anakin's face, then slowly backed away from Anakin and hopped off the pod. 

"Hmm." Noko thought to herself. "Now that I look at the pod, it's not even scratched. Anakin, where did you pilot this thing?"

"I didn't exactly pilot it at first." Anakin admitted slowly. Sebulba had scared him really bad, and he was surprised to hear himself talking again. "It was hard because the throttles were heavy, and so was the brake…" He went on, talking about his adventure in Sebulba's pod while Noko and Watto listened carefully. Sebulba just paid most of the story no mind as he inspected the pod to prove Noko wrong about the scratches. Half way into Anakin's story, Sebulba was astonished that he couldn't find one scratch on the pod. He looked at Anakin in worry. _This punk flew in my pod through the Xelric Draw without so much as a scratch? Not possible!_ Sebulba quickly hid his worry with a straight face and ran a hand over the surface of a pod engine.

"We'll talk about this back at the shop, eh." Watto insisted. "Now, let's get this back to the city."

"You heard the man." Sebulba told Anakin, looking the boy in the eyes. "Out." Anakin tried to push himself out only to make an ironic discovery.

"I'm stuck." He admitted sheepishly.

*************************************

Anakin was a little sore afterward, mostly because he had to get yanked out of that pod with the brute strength of a Dug. His arms mostly hurt, since they were the first things Sebulba tugged on to get Anakin unstuck. His feet were really cramped, and it was good to walk around in them again, and he was still shaking from the excitement of his adventure. He was pretty sure that Sebulba was sore too, first having his pod temporally stolen, then having the thief stuck in the cockpit, then discovering that the culprit had racing potential. Oh well, at least Watto would be a little subtler about the incident than Sebulba would…just by a little.

"Boy," Watto began, hovering over the standing Anakin. "The first thing I want to say is that I'm very disappointed with you." Anakin was standing in the middle of the junkyard with the want to stare at his boots. However, he still stared in his master's face, letting Watto know that the slave boy was listening. "That pod not only took a very long time to fix and furnish, but it was Sebulba's. I've trusted you for how long…" He paused to think.

"Five years." Anakin answered for him. The boy and his mother were handed over to Watto when Anakin was only three years old. Or younger, Anakin couldn't quite remember that day well.

"Five years." Watto continued. "Five years I've trusted you boy, and this is the first time I've actually punished you for something." Finally, Anakin stared down at his boots. It was true; Watto had yelled or screamed at Anakin, but never punished him. Not once. "'Ey, boy! Look at me when I'm speaking to you." Anakin raised his eyes back to his master. "But…eh, maybe I'll let it slide if you do one thing for me…"

"Yes sir?" Anakin asked nervously. Hey, maybe he wouldn't be punished after all…

"You, uh, liked racing in that pod, eh?"

"I did." Anakin admitted. No kidding, he loved it.

"Well, here's another thing I wanted to say: after hearing that you piloted that pod through the Xelric Draw without a scratch is quite a feat for someone your age. I am impressed, Anakin. So, here's the deal:" Watto loved making deals. It was his life, naturally because he owned a shop. "I've got a pod that desperately needs a racer. If you can pilot that pod yourself in a race, I'll drop the punishment and forget that this ever happened. Deal?"

"I get to podrace?" Anakin asked in dumbfounded shock. "Really? No kidding?"

"No kidding. Do we have a deal?"

"Deal!" Anakin announced. He slapped Watto's outstretched palm to make it official. Watto chuckled.

"You're a good boy, Annie." He smiled. "With some talent on ya. Put it to use for me, will ya?"

********************************* 

Chapter 2: The Gypsy

Anakin walked with a little bounce in his step going home from work. He couldn't wait to tell his friends and his mother about his good fortune and dream come true. Who knew, maybe Watto would let Anakin race in the homemade racer he was making once it was finished. Anakin soon started humming and picking up the pace in his step as his dream played itself out in his head. He could be famous one day, and everyone would remember the name Anakin Sky…

"Step right up, gentles!" a voice cut itself into Anakin's thoughts. "See the most astounding tricks in the Outer Rim!" Anakin glanced over at the middle of the busy Mos Espa street to see a strange yet colorful sight. It was a strange alien creature that resembled some type of lizard. It was balanced on it's tail which rested on a red, circular mat with a small coin cup placed on it. The tail raised the lizard a foot off the ground, giving the performer a height of at least three feet. It's claw-covered feet and legs were tucked under it, and it's arms were outstretched to it's sides for balance, and in it's hands were strange grub like creatures with various balancing objects in their own multiple, stubby hands and one on their faces. A similar looking grub creature, only a little bigger and a lot fatter, banged on tiny drums with a small stick and blowing in a long flute horn to create rasp, rickety, yet catchy music for the group. Meanwhile, tiny luminescent rings twirled and flashed dimly as the lizard spun three different colored ones on the tip of his tail and the grubs had even tinier rings on their balancing objects. 

"This is a once in a lifetime show, gentles!" the lizard announced to the crowd. "Don't miss your only chance to see this incredible act! Please give a few gifted performers a small sum of cash to continue a performance!" Anakin stopped walking to watch for a while. An Ithorian couple stopped their routine walk to watch and admire the performers as well. The lizard peeked up at Anakin for a moment, and gave the boy a toothy grin of friendliness. Anakin shied away for a few seconds then continued to watch as the music pace slowed, and the lizard managed himself out of position just as slowly. First he put his grubs down, then grabbed the rings on his tail, and lastly flipped backward and to his feet. The Ithorians and Anakin applauded with light cheers. The lizard tipped his turban to each, and gave Anakin a swift and humble bow. The female Ithorian dropped a few pegats in the coin cup, and then she and her partner walked off down the street. Anakin watched the Ithorians go, then dug around in his pockets for anything he had. Only a couple of wupiupi he had earned that day from work. Anakin timidly dropped them into the coin cup.

"Thank you very much, son." The lizard smiled. Anakin smiled back and went on his way home, still thinking about the dream of being a podracer. Only now, he had that rickety music stuck in his head and he hummed that on his way home.

*********************************

Anakin was still humming that music from the balancing act as he worked on his podracer outside of his home. He didn't have any engines yet, just a cockpit he salvaged from a Jawa trading post. He was busy cleaning and disinfecting the metal hull of the cockpit, and was hoping that he could save up some money for paint and wax to make it look better. Anakin had been doing some research on podracer engines so that he could create the best podracer ever. The Collor Pondrat models were all the rage today, but there was no way Anakin could ever collect Collor Pondrat scrap from anywhere, let alone buy a podracer of that kind of high class. There was some Balta-Trabaat parts in Watto's shop, but they didn't satisfy Anakin since they weren't the fastest engines on the market, just the fastest ones available to him.

Anakin dipped his cleaning rag in the bucket full of rust eating acid, and slopped it along the curved wings of the cockpit. The cockpit looked like a sea creature from a different planet, and it was anyone's guess what manufacturer it came from. Anakin's guess was Farwan & Glott from the look of the rounded sides and the small bump on the pod's hood. It could have been Manta RamAir as well, judging by the paint that once was on it. Well, it was his pod, and it was going to be the fastest ever built…once he found the right engines for it.

"Annie!" Shmi called from the back door. "Dinner time!"

"I'll be right there, mom!" Anakin yelled back over his shoulder. "Just a few more seconds!" He soaked his cleaning rag again, and scrubbed really hard at the disappearing rust on the cockpit. Anakin pictured his pod as not only the fastest ever built, but also the most beautiful ever built. He wanted to paint it all blue, since blue was his favorite color. He hadn't thought of what his racing graphics would be, probably his name in Huttese glyphs or something. Oh well, when Watto picked out the pod Anakin would race in for now, the Toydarian would think of some kind of racing graphics. 

Finally, Anakin scrubbed off the last of the rust on the wings, dropped the rag into the bucket of acids, and ran into the house to clean his hands for dinner. The Skywalker household had little water, and that was reserved for drinking only. So, Shmi and Anakin cleaned themselves as best as they could. To clean their hands, they had a bottle full of scented jell that disinfected hands and spots behind the ears. Anakin took the bottle from a cabinet above the sink and squirted a coin-sized glob onto his hands and rubbed his hands together hard. Finally, he sat down at the table to eat his dinner. He mostly sipped at his water and picked at his foot as the idea of entering a podrace dominated his thoughts. The flags, the music, the announcer proudly adding a perk in his voice with each new racer he introduced. Anakin could hear it now: "And there he is folks, the champion podracer from Mos Espa, Tatooine himself: Anakin Skywalker!" The crowd would go nuts, the band would blare its music, Anakin would wave to the crowd, Watto screaming from his spectator box: "That's my boy! That's my…"

"Annie?" Anakin snapped back into reality. "You aren't eating your dinner."

"Oh, it's delicious, mom." Anakin quickly responded, spooning food into his mouth, and washing it down with water. He almost choked himself doing so, but he managed to swallow before any coughing started. He wiped his mouth rudely with his hand and smiled innocently to his mother. Shmi was quickly suspicious.

"Annie, what's been on your mind lately?" she pressed. "You've been acting very strangely. Did something happen at work?"

"Oh no, mom." Anakin shook his head, then hung it as he reconsidered his answer. "Well, nothing bad happened. See, Watto wants me to start podracing."

"What?" Shmi blinked in surprise. She didn't see that coming. So, Anakin started off his dinner table conversation by telling his mother what happened that day, in full detail. He stopped a moment to pass Shmi the water jug to her side of the table, then continued with a little faster excitement. Shmi was staring at her son in alarm when he finished. After a small pause, Anakin looked around as if for some sort of support, then back at his mother.

"Mom, can I podrace? Please?" Anakin begged. This was what he had been dreaming for, and he would really be devastated if his own mother forbade him to race. If she said 'no,' Anakin's dreams would be shot from the sky and dead in seconds. It was when he asked his question did he realize that his mother was the only obstacle in his way to becoming a galaxy famous podracer. Finally, Shmi sighed in futility.

"Annie," she began, putting her hand on his. Suddenly, she corrected his grammar. "May I podrace."

"May I podrace? Please, mom, please? Pleeeeeeeeaaaaseeeeee?"

"Annie, it is a very dangerous sport, and I do wish Watto would stop taking you and me to see them, but…if it is your wish, and Watto's command, then I cannot stand between either of you. Yes, Annie, you may race."

"Yippee!" Annie cheered, slamming his hands on the table in triumph. Then paused to realize what he had done, and set his hands in his lap quicker than a thunderclap. "I mean, thanks mom."

*****************************

After dinner, Anakin went into his room to work on his protocol droid. Alike his pod, Anakin had built the droid from scrap. The new hobby had proved very difficult, but Anakin was determined, and learned everything he could about droid construction by tinkering with broken pit droids and parts of droids that could be found in Watto's shop and the town junk pile. Anakin didn't name his droid yet, mostly because he couldn't think of one. The droid's main purpose so far to Anakin was an interpreter. Shmi was having difficulty understanding local Boche and several languages that floated around Mos Espa. Anakin had given the droid memory banks to store information on foreign languages, but the droid didn't have a vocoder or working eyes yet. It was blind and mute, but could communicate with clicks and mechanical noises that was easy for Anakin to understand. The droid had protocol programming, so it was polite and easy to please. It was also very willing to serve, and do anything for Anakin. Anakin was fond of the droid, and was next to important as the pod was.

Anakin spent a few moments trying to clean out the burnt viewing receptors to help the droid see well, but it was next to impossible. Most of the droid's circuitry and parts were almost eighty years old and needed special attention. Anakin mostly scrapped what he could from the town junk pile and Watto's shop. Likewise, most of the scrap was nothing but junk. Anakin did try to fix up the scrap so it could be part of his working droid, and most of it did work eventually. Anakin just needed to find a "voice" and some "eyes" for his droid, and then he could test it out.

Anakin greased the droid's joints, and spit shined most of the framework to make it look newer rather than older. Meanwhile, Anakin thought about being in a podrace. It was the one thing he wanted more than anything, and now it was a possibility. Of course, to be a podracer, one must require experience and training. Anakin decided as he polished that he could ask Noko for help; she had podracing experience, and could probably give him some tips and training. He smiled at the thought of the wind in his face, the track zooming by him at 800 kilometers an hour, the announcer calling out his name for all to hear, the crowd and the band screaming loud enough for the angels on Iago to hear them. It would be wonderful, and Anakin's only purpose…

Anakin's droid clicked for attention, snapping Anakin out of his dreams once again. The droid wanted Anakin to scrub out what was preventing its vision. Anakin sighed at the request.

"I'm trying my best, droid." He assured, hopelessly. "One day, I'll give you eyes to see by, I promise, droid." 

Anakin began tinkering with his new podracer coolant to see if he could fix it and use it for his homemade pod. It looked pretty beat up and worn out, but Anakin noticed that it was slightly damaged. The hull of the coolant was slashed open, as if a knife cut it open. Plus the slash was perfectly straight, something that got Anakin suspicious. The coolant had been sabotaged. Good thing Anakin noticed it before Sebulba went into another race. Anakin's eyes lit up; he could have saved Sebulba's chances of winning the next race. He smiled at the thought of that. He put the coolant away, knowing that it could never be used in a podracer again, and went out to work on his homemade pod. It still had some rust left on it.

Anakin went back to work scrubbing the acid on the pod hull while dreaming about his future. He couldn't wait for his first race to come. The upcoming race was Demolition Day, when specially talented racers would perform stunts in their pods, and raced for the fastest pod on Tatooine during timed laps. It was exciting, but not as exciting as the Boonta Eve Classic held once a year.

Ah, the Boonta Eve Classic, the most infamous podracing event in the known galaxy. It was a free-for-all race between at least 30 racers from different worlds and origins. Anybody could enter, but only one could get first place and all that money for first place grand prize. Who wouldn't enter the Boonta for a million truguts? Most didn't, because the Boonta was also infamous for the highest fatality rate than any other pod race, even more than the Jungle Fever on Malastare. To Anakin's knowledge, the only man who ever won the Boonta was Sebulba.

Anakin nodded at his finished work, and dropped his rag back into the bucket. He ran his hand over the hull of the cockpit in admiration. Good. Perfect, almost. It just needed paint and a pair of engines. It wouldn't be long before it was finished and ready for it's first race. Anakin was proud of his work, and smiled in all his pride. There was a just a few obstacles left before he could let his pod's secret be known, and those were: what to tell Watto, how to get it in a race with Watto's understanding, and how much it would probably be worth before he could sell it. Anakin pictured a pod that would be worth enough to buy Shmi's and his freedom. Such thing probably wouldn't be possible, but still, he could dream, couldn't he?

***************************

Anakin went to visit Jira, the old woman who sold fruit downtown. She was a friend of Shmi's and was very nice to everyone no matter how mean they were. Anakin liked to give her a quarter of the money he made in his work because she was very poor and didn't make a lot of money. Like Anakin, Jira lived on Tatooine all her life, and knew the dangers and lifestyle of the planet inside and out. She was very wise too; she couldn't be outwitted by anyone. Anakin respected her very much, since she was his oldest friend.

Anakin found her just like she always was: sitting in the canopy before her fruit for sale, chanting her wares for those who couldn't read or wasn't sure what exactly she was selling. Anakin walked by in front of the fruit, and stood on his toes so he could see her face in the shadow of the canopy.

"Hi Jira!" he called to her. Jira smiled at him.

"Hello Annie." She answered. "How was your day?"

"Today was great." Anakin beamed, happy as a Jawa with junk. "How about yours?"

"Hot and grueling, Annie. I wish I could have a great day like you sometime."

"Oh." Anakin droned, losing his happy tone for an instant. Then it came back as he reached into his wupiupi pouches. "Well, I hope this can help make the day better." He pulled two truguts out of his pouch, and held them before his old friend. "Two pallies please."

"Help yourself, Annie." Jira smiled again, taking the coins. "Your hand is right next to them."

"Thank you." Anakin nodded, taking two of the fuzzy fruit from their stall before him. Then, as he peeled them in his hands, he launched into what happened in his day, and his dream of being a podracer coming true. Jira half smiled.

"I never cared for podracing." She said. "But I'm happy for you, Annie. Just be safe when you do race, you hear?"

"Yes mam." Anakin nodded quickly. "I'll be very careful." As he popped a piece of juicy, skinned pallie into his mouth, he noticed the balancing performers beginning their act from across the street.

"Step right up, gentles!" the reptile shouted, "See the most astounding tricks in the Outer Rim!"

"Hey, it's them again!" Anakin cried, pointing to them.

"It's who?" Jira asked, peering over her stand.

"It's those balancers. I saw them coming home from work. They play this music that got stuck in my head all day. I think they're good." Anakin and Jira watched as the lizard and his grubs pull off the same stunts and play the same music. Anakin hummed along this time, enjoying the act again. He sure got a kick out of it. Jira just watched for a moment, then settled back into her chair in the canopy, nursing her sore back.

"Not bad." Jira commented. "Although the music needs a little work. It's very nasal sounding."

"Nasal?" Anakin blinked.

"It sounds like a Chevin blowing its nose." Anakin giggled, but continued to watch and enjoy the act while humming the music. As usual, the music slowed, signaling that the act was coming to a close. The lizard and his grubs finished their show, and took a bow to the few spectators. "A few coins for a few talented performers? Anyone?" He waved his coin pot around to some of the few spectators. A couple of them put in some spare wupiupi into his pot, and he thanked them graciously. Anakin felt the few remaining truguts in his money pouch in decisive thought. He debated whether to give them to the performer or to keep them. The choice was made quickly. He smiled and walked to the performer with the six truguts in his hand, and dropped them in the coin pot.

"Oh, thank you very much, good sir." The performer bowed to Anakin, recognizing him immediately. "Hey, it's you again."

"My names Anakin." Anakin introduced. "What's yours?"

"Jaike." The performer grinned. Then he held out his grubs to the boy, one in each hand. "These are Juud and Juke." Juud was in Jaike's right hand, and Juke was in the left. Jaike looked down at the third grub with the instruments. "This is the girl, Tuum." Tuum bowed polightly. The grubs chattered happily at Anakin with a strange, slippery, squishy sound. It sounded to Anakin like the cross between a hissing Dug and squeezing slime in a tight fist. It sounded strange and funny to him, and he couldn't help but giggle.

"Hey, they like you." Jaike smiled. "They all say hello."

"Hi." Anakin greeted them, reaching out to pet Juke. The grub felt leathery and smooth under his fingers. Juke squished and squealed as Anakin petted it a couple times. "They're so cute."

"They think you're cute looking too." Jaike smiled more. 

Suddenly, Jaike fell over, and his grubs screamed in fear. Anakin jumped back, startled. Then, he saw what happened: a small monster had pounced on Jaike and had him pinned to the ground. The grubs scrambled behind Anakin for protection, and watched as their master stared in horror at the ugly thing breathing on his face.

"Gypsy scum." The monster growled. It was a Turian by the looks of it. Turians were creatures that resembled cats: they walked on all muscular fours that were tipped in claws. They had a huge mouth full of teeth, long ears that could flatten over their heads and down to the smalls in their backs, and were among the fastest things in the galaxy. Not too many people heard of these strange creatures, but Anakin's ears were always on the lookout for exotic creatures and spacer tales. 

"Wh-wh-what?" Jaike asked, his voice a squeak. "What did I do?"

"Where did you get the money?" the Turian asked, holding up the coin pot to Jaike.

"I-I-I earned it." Jaike explained.

"Gypsies don't earn money, they steal it." The Turian growled.

"No, he earned it." Anakin cut into the fight, defending Jaike and his grubs. "I gave him the money."

"A likely story." The monster growled, not looking at Anakin. Anakin only got angrier at the monster. 

"No, it's true." Anakin insisted. "I gave him all the money in my pocket."

"Like I gave him all the money in my pocket." The Turian finally looked up at Anakin. The cat-like eyes were like hot coals; the reflected the light from the twin suns above giving the feel of bright points of light shining directly at Anakin. "His worms swiped every last trugut from my pouches when I wasn't looking." He looked at the lizard again with more hatred. "Move along, little boy, this isn't your affairs."

"It's mine now." Anakin insisted, putting his hand on the Turian's shoulder blades. "Now get off him."

"Don't touch me!" the Turian hissed, swiping his sharp claws at Anakin. The claws missed Anakin's face, but slashed his chest instead, ripping off Anakin's shirt.

"Ow!" Anakin cried out in pain. Suddenly, Jaike wiggled out of the monster's grasp, snatched the coin pot and everything in it, and took off running. Anakin and the grubs weren't too far behind him.

"Thief!" the Turian screeched, running after them.

"Quick!" Anakin shouted, pointing to a nearby building. "In there!" Jaike, his grubs, and Anakin ran into the building. The Turian stopped dead in his tracks, and paced around the entrance.

"You can't hide in there for long!" he called to the five hiders inside. Anakin breathed a sigh of relief.

"Where are we?" Jaike asked Anakin.

"This is the home to my mother's old master, Chi-Lippa. She's heavily connected to Gardulla the Hutt, an old master of mine. Like I guessed, the Turian outside isn't affiliated with one Hutt."

"You're a slave?" Jaike asked Anakin.

"Yeah." Anakin nodded. "But I'm alright. It's not the life I want, but at least it's my life."

"I see." Jaike nodded, then peeked out the entrance to see the Turian still pacing by the entrance.

"Turians are devilish creatures." Anakin explained to Jaike. "They live on Turon, in the…I think it's the Norado System. When they hunt something down, they never give up. Very determined things, those things are. Don't worry, there's another way out of here. Follow me, we'll go out the back." Anakin took Jaike's hand, and led him and his grubs through the house. Jaike noticed the slashes on Anakin.

"Boy, you're wounded." 

"I'm alright, I guess. My mom will help me clean it up."

They traveled straight through the house, not encountering anyone. They went out the back door, and down the back alleys where almost no one walked.

"We're safe now." Anakin chirped. "He won't find us here."

"Who was that?" Jaike asked, carrying Juud and Juke. "You seem to know him."

"I've never seen him before." Anakin shook his head. "But I know he's a Turian, those things are easy to recognize. I listen to all the spacers and pilots that tell stories around the outdoor cafés and the shop I work at. But I've never heard of a Gypsy. Is that your species?"

"No." Jaike shook his head. "I am a Centiniano. These guys are Gwadapas." Jaike nodded at his three grubs. "I'm not sure where my real homeworld is, but I was born on Alderaan."

"Alderaan? Really?" Anakin blinked. "I've heard all about it! I heard that it's the most beautiful planet in the universe!"

"How very correct." Jaike grinned. "It's a beautiful place, alright. It has flying creatures called Thrantas that carry you from place to place in the sky. Most of the cities are built into the natural rock formations since the people take special care of nature. The birds sing most beautifully, the air is fresh and clean, the grass is green all year round. Also, there are these trees that are pink all over and carry the sweetest smell. The cities are peaceful, everyone is equal, and everything is in harmony."

"I would love to see Alderaan." Anakin wished.

"Maybe someday you will," Jaike shrugged, "when you are free."

"Yeah." Anakin nodded. "But someday, I will be free, and I'll fly away from here. I want to see the entire galaxy, every planet, every system, and every city."

"That's quite a dream you've got there, boy." Jaike half-smiled. "Think it'll ever come true?"

"I know it'll come true." Anakin nodded. "I just know it will."

*********************

Anakin quickly took Jaike to his house. Shmi was very surprised to see a stranger in her house, but Anakin quickly said that he was a friend.

"G'day mam." Jaike swiftly bowed. His grubs tried to mimic Jaike, but were quite clumsy about it with their fat bodies and many legs. Shmi smiled slightly.

"Hello." She greeted quietly.

"Your son saved us from a certain doom." Jaike began. "We have no way to repay his kindness."

"That's okay." Anakin smiled at Jaike. "You don't have to repay me. You were in trouble, and I helped you. That's all."

"Well, anyway," Jaike looked back at Shmi. "Your son was injured upon rescuing me."

"Goodness!" Shmi cried out, seeing Anakin's cuts and what was left of his ripped shirt. "Anakin, are you alright?"

"I think so, mom." Anakin nodded. "It doesn't hurt." Before he could say another word, Anakin was whisked over to his room, and placed on his bed while his mother cleaned his wounds and dressed them with a bandage.

"What happened, Annie?" Shmi asked, a little worried, as she bandaged Anakin's chest with a clean cloth.

"A Turian, mom." Anakin sighed. "He was attacking Jaike, and I tried to stop him. He scratched me, but we got away."

"Annie, don't do anything like that again." Shmi ordered, motherly. "Don't step into affairs that aren't yours."

"But Jaike was in trouble." Anakin explained. "Nobody would help him."

"Trying to solve the problems of the universe, are we?" Jaike smiled from the doorway of Anakin's room. Anakin smiled at his new friend.

"Not all the time." Anakin responded.

*********************

Jaike and his grubs spent the night at Anakin's house. They slept in his room, on a prepared mat on the ground. Jaike lay down to sleep while the grubs wandered around the room, looking at all of Anakin's odds and ends. They examined the sabotaged coolant, and then Anakin's cubby bins that were filled with mechanical scrap. Anakin watched them from his bed to make sure they didn't break anything. He smiled as they examined his junk and spare parts, being careful to put them back in the exact, precise way they found it. The grubs picked up tools and small parts delicately as if they were ancient artifacts from thousands of years from the past.

Anakin gasped when they founded the tarp-covered droid. Anakin quickly jumped out of his bed, and ran to them.

"No, no." He halted. The grubs squeaked in fear, and ran to Jaike's side in fear. Jaike was fast asleep, and unable to protect them from danger. Anakin smiled. "It's alright." Anakin calmed the grubs, smiling. "It's just that…that tarp and everything inside of it is off limits. It's my droid I'm trying to make." Juke and Juud blinked, then cooed in understanding. "Get some sleep guys. I've got a lot of work to do in the morning." Anakin crawled back into his bed, and closed his eyes, listening to the grubs sleep and snore silently to themselves. The rhythmic snoring soothed Anakin to sleep.

**********************

Chapter 3: Training in Beggar's Canyon

The next day was typical enough. Anakin was awakened by his mother, got dressed, and had breakfast. Jaike and his Gwadapas were still asleep when Anakin left the house for work. Just one thing broke the morning routine that day…

"Hey Annie!"

"Kitster!" Anakin cried out happily as Kitster and a little Rodian boy strode by. "Who's this? I haven't seen him before."

"This," Kitster waved his hand to the young Rodian, "is Wald. He just moved here."

"Who'd move to Tatooine?" Anakin blinked. He smiled instantly after asking the question. "So, how old are you, Wald?"

"This many." Wald said, holding four fingers in the air.

"Well, welcome to Tatooine." Anakin smiled again. "Well, I gotta go now. I've got a lot of work to do."

"We'll walk with you." Kitster offered. "I have the day off, and I wanted to show Wald around."

"Okay." Anakin accepted.

"Where are we going?" Wald asked as the three walked down the street together.

"To where I work." Anakin explained. "Watto's Junkshop."

"Junkshop?"

"It's where you buy junk, and parts, and stuff."

"Who'd want to buy junk?" Wald asked curiously.

"Well, as Watto likes to say, 'One man's junk is another man's treasure.'"

"Oh, I see now. Wizard."

Anakin smiled at Wald attempting to use local slang. Wald smiled back.

"So," Anakin said, "what brings you to Tatooine, Wald?"

"My dad." Wald began. "He's a bounty hunter. He's out of work for the moment, so he brought my family here to live with him. My mom is running a moister farming business."

"Tell her I wish her luck." Anakin nodded. Since Tatooine was completely deprived of water, some of the natives used machines called moister vaporators to take moister out of the air and turn it into water. It was a good way to make a profit and a living, since water pays in big money on Tatooine.

"Okay." Wald nodded. "Uh, hey, I didn't get your name."

"I'm Anakin. Anakin Skywalker."

"How old are you?"

"Seven. I'm going to be eight in a few months."

"Wow." Wald smiled.

"Yep." Anakin confirmed.

Anakin, Wald, and Kitster walked the whole four blocks to Watto's shop. Wald was an interesting character. He was pretty bright for a four year old Rodian. He was really short too; he came up to Anakin's shoulder when both boys stood up straight. During the walk, Anakin and Wald quickly became friends.

Anakin got Wald to talk about his home world of Rodia. It was mostly swamp, with lots of predators. Rodians were very war-like and violent, and most specialized in careers like bounty hunting and assassinations. A few Rodians were crime lords, slave owners, and podracers. One of Wald's father's best friends was a very famous podracer named Tayrey, and he was the Sebulba of Rodia. Wald said he cheated to get to where he was. Anakin had heard of Tayray the Swift and his prized podracer the SOL, but never saw the man race. Well, somebody had to tell Tayrey of the Boonta Eve, and Anakin could see how the Rodian raced.

After what seemed like all day, Anakin and his friends finally reached Watto's shop. Anakin invited them in to look around, but Kitster wanted to show more of Mos Espa to Wald, so Anakin went in alone. The singsong customer detector went off as Anakin entered. Watto immediately flew up to Anakin, and landed on the floor beside the boy on his two webbed feet.

"Ah, Anakin, you're here." Watto smiled. Anakin smiled with a nod.

"Yes sir."

"Noko needs you out back. Follow me." Watto flapped back up to hover height, and headed for the junkyard in the back. Anakin followed, sensing that something was about to happen, but he wasn't sure if it was good or bad.

*********************

"'Walker!" Noko greeted. "Over here!"

Anakin looked away from Sebulba's pod where Noko was supposed to be working, to the other side of the junkyard. Passing through the makeshift trail of parts and junk that even jawas wouldn't take, Anakin found Noko by a very handsome, elaborate pod. Anakin fell in love with it the minute he saw it.

It was huge! The engines almost matched the size of Sebulba's engines. It resembled a mess of rectangles piled neatly on each other, along with various air brakes along the air grids, and sides of the engines. The cockpit was shaped like a handle to a hydrospaner, then stomped flat. Threaders jumbled around the front of the pod, attached to guide cables that were tightly attached to the rectangles of engines. It was painted black, blue, with white symbols. It was the most beautiful pod he had ever seen. He knew that it was his.

"Like it?" Noko grinned. "This," she patted the engines, "is a Irdani Performance Group IPG-X1930. It has a few upgrades then a normal one of its class would. For starters, it has multiple brakes. See?" She pointed to the four pairs of brakes on the pod: three on the engines, and one on the cockpit. "It also has durasteel-reinforced framing, so it can take a lot of damage. It also intakes Drasa fuel mixed with ionizes, so it packs the punch of a bantha. Its top speed is 814 kilometers an hour."

"Wow." Anakin breathed. He ran a hand over the hull of the racer.

"And it's all yours." Noko smiled.

"Really?" Anakin's eyes lit up with hope. His very own pod, that he could race by himself against others? It couldn't be happening…

"Really. No kidding. It's all yours."

"Yes! Yipee!" Anakin cheered, throwing a fist in the air. Noko laughed.

"Not so fast, kiddo."

"Huh?"

"Do you know how to fly a podracer?"

"Sure." Anakin nodded. "I flew Sebulba's pod through the Xelric Draw, remember?"

"Well, a Collor Pondrat is a lot different than an IPG." Noko crossed her arms over her chest. "So, Watto asked me to teach you how to fly it."

"Yeah?" Anakin blinked.

"Yeah." Noko nodded. "So, today you get the day off, cause I'm gonna teach you the basics in podracing."

"Yipee!" Anakin cheered again. "When do we start?"

"Right now."

***********************

Noko drove to Beggar's Canyon in her speeder. Anakin squirmed in his seat, something he did when he was excited. He couldn't wait to start podracing. It was a dream come true, especially with that beauty that Watto got him. It would be great! His first race would be the day that he would become famous, and everyone would cheer for him, and his flag would wave in the desert winds for all to see. He would become even more famous than…

"'Walker." Noko called to Anakin's attentions.

"Huh?" Anakin snapped back to the present.

"We're here." Noko shifted the speeder to park, and jumped out of it to the canyon ahead. Anakin jumped out too, and ran to Noko's side. Noko had parked on top of a cliff that over looked the canyon. The canyon was a large crack in the land that stretched for miles. Anakin could see the Tusken Turn from where he was standing, and some of Devil's Lair, and that was about it of the Boonta Track. Noko knelt on one knee so she could look at Anakin at eye level.

"Welcome to Beggar's," she began, "the most treacherous terrain in all of Tatooine. There's a few jawa settlements, womprat holes, and one Tusken Raider camp not too far away from the Canyon Dune Turn." She pointed at Tusken Turn, referring to its real name. "Swoop racing, bike racing, speeder racing, yes even starship racing has passed through this canyon over the years because of it's natural challenge of steep drops, sharp turns, and inferior beings. Perfect for podracing. The Boonta Eve Classic is held in just a fraction of Beggar's Canyon, because it has been proven impossible to navigate successfully through the whole canyon. Because of Beggar's many dangers, Tatooine races are the most demanding, most challenging, and most deadly podracing terrain in the entire galaxy."

"Whoa." Anakin had never thought of that.

"So, let's begin the training." She looked directly at Anakin. "So, 'Walker, do you know how to drive a swoop?"

A distant tribe of Tusken Raiders howled in the distance.

A swoop wasn't much different than a podracer, Anakin soon found out. Unlike speeder bikes, what they closely resembled, swoops required the rider to sit back rather than haunch over the controls. Plus, a swoop was much longer, and was a lot faster. Anakin had almost no trouble controlling it. It was fun for him, by the way. 

Noko and Anakin first raced across open dunes so Anakin could get a hang of the swoop controls. They spent about an hour doing so. "Always know everything you can about your vehicle." Noko advised, holding up one finger. "That's lesson number one, and it applies whether you're racing or not. Keep that in mind when you learn how to fly a speeder."

"Yes mam." Anakin nodded.

"You ready for Beggar's now?"

"Sure am."

"Okay, follow me. Remember, we aren't racing yet, so stay behind me." Noko then swerved her swoop to a U-turn, and sped for the treacherous canyon. Anakin wasn't too far behind her. They entered the canyon with ease, then promptly made a sharp left turn. "Watch yourself, Walker." Noko warned. "Beggar's is where most racers crash, cause they don't pay attention to their surroundings."

"Right." Anakin acknowledged. He followed closely behind Noko, careful of the turns and rock structures that would prove fatal to a podracer. Ninety-degree turns, close call rock formations, and steep climbs and drops littered the canyon for Anakin to take note of. Fortunately, the swoop was going slow enough for Anakin to see the dangers ahead of him before he could crash into them.

"Rule number two of podracing." Noko listed through the headset comlink planted firmly on Anakin and Noko's ears. "Don't crash."

"Uh…" Anakin had no clue what Noko meant.

"Sure, it's an obvious rule, but you'd be amazed how many podracers have crashed and died when they paid more attention to the prize money than their surroundings."

"Oh, okay." Anakin nodded in understanding. "Don't crash. Got it!"

"Okay, now watch yourself around here." Noko noted, pointing ahead. It was the Canyon Dune Turn. 

"I know." Anakin nodded. "The Tusken Turn. There's a tribal camp not far from here. Plus, the Sand People have stolen rifles that they shoot at racers."

"Here's a hint: If the Tusken Raiders start shooting at you, just ignore them and keep going. After all, the odds of a speeding podracer getting shot down by Sand People are zero."

"So that's rule number three?"

"No. Rule number three is coming up." Noko warned, finishing the turn, and speeding over a rocky crevice.

"Then what's rule number three?"

"REPULSERS UP!"

Quickly, Anakin switched his repulsers to up, so that the nose of the swoop was pointing towards the sky. Suddenly, the ground gave way beneath both swoops, revealing a 3-meter drop. The Metta Drop, Anakin knew. 

"Good." Noko congratulated as Anakin continued to speed behind her. "That was the Metta Drop you just conquered, if you haven't already guessed."

"I did." Anakin nodded.

"Okay, now this is Dead Man's Run we're coming up to. There are 45 rock arches you must thread through. Now they call this Dead Man's Run for a reason."

"Yeah. Whoever crashes here is a casualty."

"Correct. And that is because everyone is struggling to get to first place. So this is the most dangerous part of the track because you won't just be battling against the other racers; you'll also be battling against yourself and your greed. If somebody passes you, let them, save your fuel. You'll need it for the Grand Finale."

"Okay."

"That was rule number four, if you're keeping track."

"I am."

"Good. Okay, now the trick here is to count off the arches as you pass under them. We're on 24."

"25…26…27…28…"

"You'll be going a lot faster in a pod, so you probably won't have time to count."

"Okay."

Soon, they exited the Dead Man's Run, and zoomed out into the open desert.

"Rule number five:" Noko listed off. "The Grand Finale is where you give it your all. Top speed here, everything you've got. There's no obstacle here except for your opponents, so it's fairly safe to go top speed."

"Right."

"Just up ahead is the Arena, and there's a sharp turn along the start/finish grid. Be sure to slow down there, because you'll crash into the retaining wall at top speed, especially if you don't have time."

"Rule number six?"

"Yep."

Then, they arrived at the arena, and stopped. Noko looked over Anakin as his swoop came to a stop near hers. "Not bad, kid. Not bad. You can do better, though."

"Of course." Anakin nodded. "With your help, Namu-san." He winked at Noko, to show her that he was using her old name in kidding. Noko smiled, non-offended.

"Whell then," she responded, using Namu Yagar's accent, "luuks laike whe've gaut some wurk ta duu, then." She mussed Anakin's hair and chuckled. Anakin chuckled too, then smiled at her. Noko cleared her throat, and took her hand off Anakin's head. "So, let's go do that again."

"Again?"

"Think you can race through Beggar's again…ten times a day?"

"Ten times a day?" Anakin gasped.

"I told you, this is a dangerous track. And if you're going to race it in a podracer, then I want you to memorize this track so well, you can navigate it blindfolded. This kind of training isn't easy, but this must be done if you want to live in a podrace. I'm going to teach you everything I know about podracing, and I'm going to try to push you to your limits. In podracing, everything is a factor, including experience. I'm going to give you as much experience as I can, Anakin Skywalker. You may not like me in the next few weeks, but I do care about you, remember that whenever I upset you during training. Okay?"

"Okay." Anakin nodded. "I understand."

"You're such a good kid." Noko grinned, giving Anakin's hair another muss. "So, ready to go again?"

"You bet." Anakin nodded, putting his hands back on the swoop controls.

"Okay." Noko cracked her knuckles, and revved her swoop engine. "Review!"

************************

"Hold still, 'Walker." Noko prompted, softly pushing Anakin back on the table. "How am I suppost to dress this wound with you squirming around?!"

"But I'm excited." Anakin explained. "I can't wait to be a podracer." He sat back up. "I wanna be in the next race coming up!" Noko forced Anakin back down.

"Oh no you don't." she scolded. "The next one is the annual Donic Day race, and there is no chance in any of the twenty-four hells that you're entering that. Experts only."

"Oh." Anakin sighed. He stayed down on the table while Noko gently padded a clean cloth on the cuts on his arms and face. A jawa tribe had been sitting on a rock formation of Dead Man's Run, and accidentally released a shower of rocks on the two swoop riders. Anakin had the most injuries, but fortunately none of them were serious. "But I want to be in the next race I can be entered in."

"Hmmm." Noko thought for a moment. "You're best bet is the Demolition Day amateur races." She suggested. "You could enter that. It would be good testing."

"Yeah!" Anakin cheered for joy, sitting back up again. "Can I, Walker? C'ni, c'ni, cni?!"

"Lay down." Noko commanded, pushing Anakin back down on the table. "And stay down, or you'll open your cuts again. As for D-day, I'll talk to Watto, but you're jumping the gun here. Patience, let's just wait and see."

"Okay then." Anakin sighed. He finally sat still, and stayed that way until Noko announced him healed.

"No scars, just a few scabs. Now, unless you want them to be scars, don't scratch at them. Especially those Turian marks on your chest."

"Huh?" Anakin blinked, looking down at his chest. They were covered up, how did Noko know they were there? Before he could answer, Noko chuckled.

"Never underestimate anyone, 'Walker." Noko warned. "That can prove hazardous to your health. Trust me on that one." Anakin jumped off the table, and stood in front of Noko.

"I can't wait." He announced. "I'm going to be a podracer, and everyone will cheer for me, and I'll be more famous than Sebulba."

"How so?"

"Cause I'll be the youngest, and the only human podracer in the galaxy!"

"Take it easy, kid." Noko calmed the excited Anakin, or tried to. "Let's not brag now."

"Well…I can dream can't I?"

Noko smiled.

To Be Continued

Next Chapter: 

Chapter 4: Mr. Gasgano

((Well, what do you think so far? Good? Bad? You don't know or aren't sure? Let me know, I love getting e-mail. Mail me at Masquerade37@hotmail.com! Side note: no negative remarks about Jar-Jar Binks in e-mails. I hate getting those, ok? See you in a few chapters. J ))


	2. Default Chapter Title

__

"It will be a hard life; one without reward, without remorse, without regret. A path will be placed before you; the choice is yours alone. Do what you think you cannot do. It will be a hard life; but you will find out who you are."

~Qui-Gon Jinn

****

One Dream

By Masquerade

All SW characters are © George Lucas and LucasFilm Ltd.

Thank you, and now on with the show…

Chapter 4: Mr. Gasgano

Sunrise on Tatooine, the spaceport Mos Espa slowly began to wake up, and Anakin went to work at Watto's shop, thinking about his future in podracing. The swoop rides were fun, and there was plenty Noko could teach him. The only bad part was the exhausting ten laps a day through Beggar's Canyon. He wasn't sure how he could expect to memorize the canyon path that way. But still, Noko had warned him that the training was going to be hard, and she wasn't going to hold back on Anakin for a moment. It was just a step towards becoming a podracing champion.

Anakin entered Watto's shop, and the "customer detector" made his presence known. Watto and a lucky customer were chatting away over a podracer coolant when Anakin came in. Watto turned his head to his slave boy, and smiled warmly. 

"Ah, Anakin." Watto greeted. "I need you in the back to take a look at the new pod, see what's wrong with it, eh?"

"Okay." Anakin nodded, heading for the junkyard. He wasn't sure what Watto meant by a "new pod," but he still had his orders. He looked around the junkyard until he came to the spot where Sebulba's pod was once parked. Instead of the Dug's prized possession, there was another pod. It was a JAK Racing type, painted green and orange, and about half the size limit of a podracer. 

Overseeing his pod was a Xexto. The little creature was about a few inches taller than Anakin, had a long neck, pale white skin, four arms, and no nose. It looked something like a cross between unbaked bread dough and a spider standing on its two hind legs. It was wearing a brown cloak over its skinny body and a cap over its tiny, bald head. It was shaking its four arms around at various pit droids trying to fix it and find its problem. Anakin approached carefully.

"No, no, no!" the Xexto shouted at the pit droid balancing itself on the top of the engine. "Get down from there! I'm not paying you to play around! Go find out what's wrong with my pod!"

Suddenly, Anakin realized who that pod belonged to and who the Xexto was. The voice was a strange squeak when he yelled, but a quiet drone when he spoke otherwise. The pod was one that won hundreds of awards around the galaxies outer rim, and the colors were unmistakably those of the most famous, most whispered and rumored name in podracing next to Sebulba…

In awe, Anakin slowly walked up to the pod and got to work. He carefully inspected the hull of the engines, and looked them over. It seemed fine, just furnished and polished, Anakin could hardly make out the fixed dents and scratches in the hull. He took a look at the exhaust burners, and they seemed okay. He checked the exhaust intake, those looked okay too. There was certainly an internal problem with it, it was the only explanation. 

"Nothing wrong with the engine," the Xexto listed to himself, "nothing wrong with the intake, nothing wrong with the after-burners, nothing wrong with the power charge, nothing wrong with the brakes…there's something wrong with this pod! I just know it!"

"Did you check the coolant?" Anakin asked the Xexto casually.

"Hmmm…" the Xexto thought to himself, crossing his lower pair of arms, and stroking his "chin" with the other. "I think I did. I'm not sure."

"I'll check for you." Anakin offered, looking by the nearest engine. "Hey, DUM-9, could you open the exhaust hatch for me?" The little dull crimson pit droid nodded and squeaked, then lifted a latch by the middle of the engine. Anakin cautiously peeked inside the engine, then pulled himself in so that he was half-way into the engine. Anakin switched on a glowrod, and took a look around. He could see the coolant right in front of him, hooked up to the rest of the engine. Anakin inspected the hull of the coolant, seeing nothing wrong. Then he carefully disconnected the coolant from the pod, just as he was trained to do by Watto. Every so gently, Anakin brought out the coolant from the engine, and showed it to the Xexto. "Well, I don't see anything wrong with it so far. Can I take it into the shop and look at it?"

"Sure." The Xexto nodded. Anakin bowed his head politely, and ran back into the shop, heading for the back rooms just behind the counter. Anakin kept a stash of tools and equipment in the backrooms, and in the backrooms Anakin would fix up and clean parts and equipment so Watto could sell them later. Anakin always did his best, since working parts were well-priced parts. Anakin took out a few tools, and opened up the hull of the coolant, and tinkered with everything inside. 

Then he found the problem: a motorized fan was missing. It was almost completely unnoticeable if Anakin wasn't so good with mechanics and parts. Without the single motorized fan that circulated inside the coolant, the engine part wouldn't work, the pod would overheat instantly, and explode. Strange, how could such a small yet significant part be missing? Anakin quickly replaced the missing fan, and put the coolant back together. That was when he noticed a strange slash in the hull. It looked exactly like the one Sebulba had on his broken coolant! Anakin suspected a pattern, and took the coolant back to the waiting Xexto.

"You were missing a component on the coolant. I had it replaced though." Anakin reported, then he ran his finger down the gash so the podracer pilot could see it. "Can you tell me about this here?"

"Oh that." The Xexto nodded. "Someone had snuck into the pod hanger last night and tried to sabotage my coolant. I had that slash plastered back together. It should work properly now."

"Okay, let me try something." Anakin nodded. He went back to the open hatch in the engine, and carefully replaced the coolant back in the engine. When he was finished, the pit droid helped to close and seal the hatch. "Okay now…" Anakin ran up to the cockpit, and started flicking a few switches on the control panel.

"No, no, no, no!" the Xexto panicked. "Don't start the pod!"

"I won't." Anakin shook his head at the Xexto. "I'm just taking a look at the settings, just to see if the coolant responds." The Xexto couldn't help but smile.

"You sure know your podracers, kid." He approved. "What's your name?"

"Anakin."

"Nice to meet you, Anakin. Well, what did you get?"

"Hold on." Anakin said, taking a look at the Huttese glyphs on the control panel screen. "Yep. It's all fixed. It's in racing condition, Mr. Gasgano."

"Thanks a bunch, Anakin." Gasgano smiled. He reached into his wupiupi pouch, and produced ten whole trugguts. "Here."

"What's this?" Anakin asked.

"Trugguts. What does it look like to you?"

"What are they for?"

"Tip."

Anakin blinked in shock at Gasgano.

"I can't take it, Mr. Gasgano." Anakin denied, trying to give the money back to the racer. Gasgano just crossed his two pairs of arms, refusing the refund.

"You deserve it. If you didn't find that out about the coolant, my pod would have exploded in the next race, and I would have died. You, overall, saved my life, and a big tip is the only way I can thank you at this time."

"…" Anakin looked back at the money in his hand, and back into Gasgano's purple eyes. "Thank you so very much, sir."

"Yer welcome." Gasgano smiled. "And thank you, Anakin, again."

******************************

The rest of the day was watching the shop for customers, since Watto was busy with another customer that needed a lot of parts for a podracer. Anakin didn't catch the name of the podracer; he probably get yelled at if he asked Watto. Anakin sat on the counter, replacing the power charges to three pit droids. Dreams of winning pod races went through his head, and being famous. Anakin wanted to go down in podracing history, like Gasgano and Sebulba. 

Most people became podracers for money, like Sebulba. Others became podracers for the thrill, like Gasgano and Wan Sandage. Other became podracers through family heritage, like Ark "Bumpy" Roose and Mawhonic. Others became podracers to show off to females, like Dud Bolt did before Sebulba came to Tatooine. Not one podracer Anakin knew of didn't podrace for the fame of it. Anakin wanted to go for fame, and hobby. Anakin didn't care about the money; Watto could have it, if he wanted it. Anakin would just give money away for who needed it most, like Jira. 

__

Ding dum!

Anakin looked up from the pit droids to the door. He saw a man dressed in dark clothes and robes walking into the store with a little girl trailing behind. Anakin looked at the young girl for a moment. She was about four, with short blond hair, and a face covered in soot. She was dressed in crimson red rags of a chimneysweeper. However, Anakin could tell that she didn't clean out chimneys by the color of the soot on her face. The soot was too dark. She did something else that involved getting covered in soot.

"Hey." The man barked at Anakin. He jumped and looked at the man. The man had pale white skin, and a deep black beard that fanned out on all sides. He wore brown and black robes over his tall, powerful body. He must have been a semi-important person in Mos Espa.

"Y-yes?" Anakin answered, nervously.

"Where is the owner of this store?" The man had a voice like a struggling speeder engine: rough, scratchy, and badly needed an oil change to clean off the rust.

"He's busy right now…" Anakin calmly explained, "…but you can wait here for him when he's finished."

"You don't understand." The man shook his head. "I'm Lepin Xerx."

"I'm sorry?" Anakin blinked in confusion. He never heard of anyone named Lepin Xerx…

"I am the mayor of Mos Espa." The man growled through clenched teeth. Anakin looked at the man's teeth, seeing that they were all vibro-knife sharp. Anakin gulped.

"Uh…I'm sorry, sir. I thought Jabba the Hutt was the mayor of all cities on this side of the Dune Se…"

"Stupid boy." Xerx barked. "Get me the owner or merchant right now!"

Anakin hesitated. He had gotten in trouble once for handling a customer while Watto was on his lunch break. Anakin wasn't a merchant, he was a slave. He was not allowed to handle customers…or else Watto wouldn't pay him for the day. 

"Uh…he's…busy…" Anakin cowered in fear of the man.

"I don't care. Tell him who I am, and get him over here **NOW!**"

"Can I help you?" a voice from the back answered the man. He and Anakin looked to see, not Watto, but…"My name's Noko Mooncrystal, and I'll be happy to help you with anything."

"Finally." Xerx sighed. He turned to the girl behind him. "Amee, stay here. Don't touch anything." Amee, the four-year-old girl, nodded, and sat down on the floor. Xerx walked up to Noko, and she took him out back.

"The mayor of Mos Espa, the largest city on Tatooine? Very fascinating…" she began to ramble as they walked out into the junkyard. "I'll see what we got for ya…"

Anakin looked over at Amee, who just sat there, staring at the floor. He figured that she was trained to look at anybody during her duty…whatever it was that included soot. Walking away from the pit droids he was working on, he knelt by her.

"Hi." He greeted cheerfully. She was still as stone, staring at the floor, as though he didn't hear her. "Hello?" he asked her. She didn't respond. "My name's Anakin. What's yours?" He had figured out her name, but he wanted her to talk. She still didn't respond. He put a hand on her shoulder, and that got movement out of her alright. She raised her head angrily, and slapped Anakin's hand away.

"Doooon't!" she moaned angrily. Then she got up and moved to a darker spot in the shop. 

"What did I do?" Anakin shrugged. "I just wanted to say hi." He walked up to her again, but kept his distance this time. "Oh wait, I know…you were told not to talk to strangers, huh? Yeah, me too, but I don't have a lot of friends. Uh…you're Amee, right? I'm Anakin Skywalker." 

"I'm not supposed to talk to anybody." Amee said in a small voice. Anakin nodded.

"You can talk to me." Anakin assured. "So, are you a slave too?"

"Yeah." Amee nodded, growing a little more trusting.

"Is he your master?" Anakin looked to the junkyard entrance.

"Yeah." Amee answered, but she seemed sad when she answered, she lowered her head further, and put her hands on her dress-covered knees.

"So, uh, what do you do as a slave?"

"Not nice stuff." 

"Like what?"

"Work."

"What kind of work?"

"Coal mining."

"Really?!?!?!!!" Anakin blinked bug-eyed in shock. Little kids would mine coal here on Tatooine? Well, he had heard worse "work" stories…

"I don't like it." Amee said a little more quietly. "I get all dirty, and I cough a lot, and I do it all day. But daddy says I have to, or he'll…he'll leave me."

__

The fiend… Anakin thought, _what kind of guy would do this to their child?!_

"Who's your daddy?" Anakin asked.

Very shockingly, Amee looked over to the junkyard entrance.

"Your master is your father?!"

"Yeah." Amee sighed.

Just then, Gasgano walked out of the junkyard and into the shop. He looked over at Anakin and smiled.

"Hi Anakin." He greeted, waving a hand. Anakin looked up at the pod racer.

"Oh, hi Mr. Gasgano." Anakin smiled. "Thanks again for the tip."

"No problem." His neck curved slightly to look at Amee. "Who's this?"

"Oh, Watto has another customer…the mayor of Mos Espa. This is his slave…and his daughter."

Gasgano nodded.

"Xerx, right? Yeah, he's one of the biggest slave drivers on Tatooine, but not the biggest. He doesn't have that much money, so he sold everything he could to keep himself alive…even his family." He waved his hand at Amee. "Poor kid…living the life of a chimney sweep…"

"Uh…" Anakin was about to correct when Watto and his customer, a Quarren, walked out of the junkyard.

"Glada to be doin business with ya, heh heh." The Toydarian chuckled as the Quarren left with a bottle of pod fuel. Watto's attention turned to Gasgano and Anakin. "Ah, Gasgano, how's your pod coming along?"

"Great, thanks to your genius over here." The Xexto referred to Anakin. "Hey, give him a raise for me, will you?"

"I'll think about it." Watto chuckled. "Anakin, you still have these pit droids to work on over here…"

"Oh, shoot." Anakin almost smacked himself on the head. "I almost forgot." He got back on the counter, and went back to work. He was too busy to see what was going on in the room, but he listened carefully.

"Here's what I owe you. Keep her safe for me, my racing record is in your hands, old man."

"Don'ta worry about it." Watto chuckled. "It's in good hands, podracer. Good day to ya."

Anakin heard Gasgano's footsteps go out the door.

"Eh? Boy, what's this?"

"Huh?" Anakin looked up from his job to see Watto hovering over Amee.

"Uh, that's a slave."

"It's not my slave, whose is it?"

"Uh…" Anakin grew nervous. "Um…that's…that's…uh…"

"No holding back on me, boy." Watto snapped. "Whose is it?"

"Glad to do business with you." Noko said to Xerx as they walked out of the junkyard into the shop. "Have a nice day." Xerx completely ignored her, and headed for the door.

"Amee!" Xerx called over his shoulder. Amee quickly got up, and ran to her master. They disappeared out the door and into the city.

"This is yours." Noko put one hundred truggets into Watto's three-fingered hand. "Mr. Xerx was sponsoring a podracer, and he needed an energy binder for the pod."

"You…" Watto angrily pointed with his free hand. "You handled a customer without my permission?!"

"Well, you were busy, and customers are against Anakin's policy, and I had nothing better to do."

"That could get you fired, Mooncrystal!"

"It would if you were my boss." Noko smiled. She looked down at her crono on her wrist. "Oh, look at the time, I've got a lunch meet to go to."

"Take the rest of the day off, you ignorant bimbo!" Watto shouted after her as she headed into the city. She stopped at the doorway, and looked over her shoulder at Anakin.

"See you tomorrow, 'Walker." She said with a wave, then left the shop.

Anakin smiled after her. She was definitely a person with guts.

**************************

Anakin walked home with Kitster and Wald after work. Wald liked Mos Espa "better than the other places I've been." Anakin and Kitster nodded, knowing that the places they heard about were sometimes not as good as Mos Espa. 

"Hey, I've got an idea!" Wald said a few moments after an ended conversation. "Why don't you guys come to my house for dinner?"

"I can't." Anakin sighed. "I have to be at my house to help my mom. She works too."

"Oh, sorry Annie." Wald apologized sadly.

"That's okay." Anakin half smiled. "Maybe some other time, like when I have a day off."

"When's that?"

"Uh…" Anakin tried to think. He had a day off every two weeks. "Um…about another week."

"A week? But that's forever!"

"No it's not." Anakin giggled. "It's okay, I'll see what I can do."

"Okay!" Wald chirped. "I want you to meet my mom and dad, Anakin! They're really wizard!"

"Sure." Anakin nodded, grinning at Wald's attempts at local slang. "Like I said, I'll see what I can do."

**************************

"So, when's the next podrace?" Anakin asked Melee, looking over her shoulder and at the view screen she held.

"I'm getting there." She sighed in annoyance, pushing a few buttons and small panels on the screen. Finally, an ad lit up on the screen, showing a podracer, and huge basic word all over the brightly colored ad. 

"What does it say?" Anakin wondered.

"It says…" Melee began, "Donic Derby, come one come all. Sebulba's in it…this Gasgano guy you mentioned is here…who's this?"

"Who?" Anakin peeked over her shoulder.

"This." She touched a small line of Basic script, and a profile came up, showing the headshot of a Bith, and a blue and red pod that resembled a strange insect. Melee read a little of it. "His name is Rimkar, a beginning podracer…sponsored by Lepin Xerx."

"So that's who he was sponsoring!" Anakin exclaimed. "Wow! This Rimkar must be really good."

"Have you heard of him?"

"No, but if the mayor is sponsoring him, he must be good at podracing."

"There you go again about podracing." Melee smiled, turning the view screen off. "Really, Anakin Skywalker, you're too little to podrace."

"Well, that's good." Anakin smiled skeptically. "The smaller you are, the lighter your pod will be. I have to race while I'm still short."

"You are so weird, you know that?" Melee grinned. "You were weird from the start."

Anakin smiled at Melee, then looked back over her shoulder.

"So, who else is in the Donic Day?"

"Anakin…" Melee moaned, turning the view screen back on. "I just turned it off, now you want me to find that place again…"

Ch. 5: Number 68

"Annie!" Shmi called into Anakin's room. "Time to get up!" Anakin moaned awake, and sat up in bed. His nose caught the scent of warm breakfast, and he rubbed his sleepy eyes with a fist. He heard Jaike's Gwadapa's squeak a yawn, and shake the sleep off them. Anakin looked down at the brown grubs sleeping on his blanket, and he gave them a few pats, and climbed out of his bed.

"Hey Jaike?" Anakin asked, looking over to Jaike, who was curled up like a sleeping cat on the blanket placed on the floor. "Are you awake? It's breakfast time." Jaike didn't answer; he was in a deep sleep. Anakin looked over at Juub, Juke, and Tumm, the Gwadapas. "Can you three wake him up? His breakfast is getting cold." Juke hopped off Anakin's bed, and trotted over to Jaike to wake up his master. Anakin walked out of the room, giving his tarped droid a quick glance before heading to the kitchen.

Breakfast was a warm bowl of staki soup. Shmi had gotten a basket full of staki grass as a gift from Watto, and used it to make a spicy soup for herself, Anakin, and their guests. Anakin took his seat at the table. 

"Good morning, mom." Anakin smiled as Shmi put a bowl of soup in front of Anakin.

"Good morning." Shmi smiled, handing Anakin a spoon. As Anakin started eating, Jaike walked out, looking very puffy eyed.

"'Morning, mates." Jaike yawned his greeting. His grubs came out squishing and squigging their greetings to Anakin and Shmi, and Jaike gave them all hard glares.

"What are you three so cheerful about?!" he muttered grouchily.

Anakin put a hand over his mouth to keep from giggling. Watto asked Anakin that morning grouch question every morning.

************************

The streets seemed more crowded than they usually did, and that signaled the coming event of a podrace. Posters were being plastered to the adobe walls, stores advertised sales, newer and better bands were showing up in cantinas and bars, and the crime wave went up by a little more. He noticed more and more outlandish dressed folk walking around the city, and the air traffic above the city was growing steadily worse. None of this would effect the noise pollution, which was almost always hard on Anakin's ears. He could only imagine how loud the crowds were going to be at the podrace.

Anakin walked past a pouch snatching in progress to get to his workplace. Of course, the crime was always bad in Mos Espa, since there was no law enforcement. There were only a few laws in Mos Espa, and they happened to be the laws of survival. Anakin was quick to learn these laws, and he walked the streets as safe as he could. He had never been robbed, but he had been hurt a few times by rough passerbyers. Besides, Anakin was almost too small to pick on in the first place.

__

Ding-dum!

"Watto?" Anakin called into the shop, hearing that the Toydarian didn't notice him immediately. Anakin looked to the counter, and saw nobody there. That was weird… He looked around the room, and gasped at the far end of the room. There stood the tallest man he had ever seen: six foot seven! The man had pale skin, and black hair that seemed to shine purple in the light behind him. His bright colored clothes clearly marked that he was an outlander, since almost no native on Tatooine wore bright colored clothes (especially red, like the man's top) unless they wanted to get shot. His pants and boots were black, which made the illusion that the man's torso was floating in mid air. Anakin eyed the man's face, which was long and sharp. The man had two primary blue eyes, and silver face paint encircling one eye like a black eye with spikes running down the bottom. Anakin froze in fright at the man's height. It was when the man looked down at Anakin did the boy even make a whimper of fear.

"Hi." The man said in a quiet, eerie voice. 

"C-c-c-can I help you?" Anakin asked nervously.

"Do you work here?"

"Yeah." Anakin's voice was slowly gaining high pitch to an squeak. He wasn't sure if Wookies were this tall.

"Where's the owner of this store? He should be at the counter."

"I-I-I'll go look for him." Anakin offered, heading for the junkyard entrance. "If you'd…be…be kind as to wait…here…"

"What's the matter?" the man grinned, showing two very sharp fangs at the edges of his toothy grin. "You look like you've seen a monster."

"Aaa!" Anakin yelped, running for the junkyard. He heard the man chuckle as he ran practically for his life into the junkyard. He hid behind the container bins, and caught his breath. He had been more frightened in his life, but he was too scared to remember it. What was that guy? And what planet outside the galaxy was he from?

"What's up?" Anakin heard Noko's voice from around the corner. He instantly relaxed. 

"Walker!" Anakin squealed, running to her. "The scariest guy is in the shop right now!"

"Whoa, calm down." Noko calmed as she put two hands in front of Anakin. "Now, what happened?"

"Wait, where's Watto?"

"He and Gasgano have been haggling over new podracer parts for over two hours now, and there's no sign of stopping. Why, does he have a customer?"

"Yeah, in the shop, right now. This guy is soo scary, my heart feels like it's going to pop out of my chest!"

"Calm down." Noko got down on one knee. "Don't get exited. He's probably just nothing. Now, what does he look like?"

"He's humongous! He must have been taller than a Wookie! He's all pale, and he wore bright clothes, and he's got fangs, and long hair, and…and he's got this thing around his eye, all silver stuff…"

"Wait a minute." Noko stopped. "Silver thing around his eye? Like paint?"

"I guess." Anakin nodded.

"Oh Gods, I can't believe it!" Noko cried happily. She got up and ran for the shop. Anakin ran after her.

"Noko, what are you doing?! This guy is scary! Come back!" He was hardly able to catch up to her, and she completely ignored him. She disappeared into the shop, and Anakin stopped to catch his breath outside the doorway. What he heard next completely surprised him.

"Vim!"

"Walkaru!"

Happy laughing followed.

"Oh, I am so glad to see you!"

"You've gotten a lot taller, and a lot prettier. How've you been?"

"Great! Wow! I can't remember the last time I've seen you."

"It's been nine years at least."

"I can't believe it's been that long."

Anakin peeked into the doorway to see the most shocking thing he had ever seen. Noko and the scary man she called Vim were in a tight hug, looking and talking to each other like they hadn't seen each other for centuries. Noko had to hug the man by standing on her toes, since she wasn't as tall as he was. He was all smiles, showing his fangs and his other flat teeth, and Noko didn't seem to care. Anakin gulped, hoping that the man wouldn't bite her neck like the other monster stories that Anakin had picked up from spacers and outlanders. Suddenly, Noko looked over at the doorway to see Anakin peeking out at them, and smiled.

"C'mon out, Anakin." Anakin promptly hid his head against the wall. "It's okay. He's an old friend of mine."

"It's alright, lad," The man named Vim insisted, in a more louder, and friendlier voice, "I didn't mean to scare you. C'mon out." After a few moments hesitation, Anakin walked out of his hiding place, and into the shop.

"Anakin Skywalker," Noko introduced the slave boy to the old friend, "this is Vimmai, my surrogate father."

"Hello there." Vimmai extended a hand down to Anakin, who finally regained some courage to shake it. "Sorry that I scared you. It happens often."

"That's okay." He decided, then he looked at Noko. "What's a surrogate father?"

"He raised me as a father, but he's not my father." Noko explained calmly.

"But why…"

"Let's not get into that." Vim decided. "Where's the store owner?"

"You'll have to be patient with the old man." Noko smirked and looked back to the junkyard entrance. "It's best not to stop him once he gets started haggling. So, what brings you to Tatooine? Podracing?"

"I just wanted to check up on my pupil, and see if he really has learned from me after all those years." Vim smiled at Noko. 

"You bet he has." Noko grinned. "There isn't a podracer alive who hasn't heard of him. He's been winning races since he got here."

"That's good to hear."

"Who is it?" Anakin wondered. Apparently, he was ignored. 

"Well," Vim sighed, "I guess I have to go get the storekeeper, and see if I can get some service around here." He looked down at Anakin. "Unless, of course, you can help me find some upgrades for my pod."

"Pod?" Anakin blinked, then he answered Vim's question. "Uh, sorry, I got in trouble with Watto for helping customers once. I'm just his mechanic."

Vim blinked in confusion.

"We'll go get Watto." Noko insisted, weaving her arm through the crook of Vim's elbow joint. "Anakin, just sign in for work, and we'll start our podracing lesson as soon as I'm done, okay?"

"Podracing lesson?" Vim wondered as Noko took him into the junkyard. Anakin hopped onto the counter, and looked around the store. The strangest people keep popping into Watto's store for podracer parts…

*************************

"You're doing great, 'Walker!" Noko grinned into her headset comlink as Anakin piloted his swoop in front of her. "You almost have this track down."

"Almost." Anakin nodded.

"Keep it up, kiddo. Pretty soon, I'll teach you how to drive that pod Watto is giving you."

Anakin's hands sweated underneath the handlebars of the swoop. He couldn't wait to pilot his own beautiful pod.

"How soon, Walker?"

"Don't think about that now. Concentrate on the track."

"Okay." Anakin kept his eyes focused on the track as his ears were keeping focus on all sides. Noko had trained Anakin's ears to be eyes in the back of his head for sounds like coming podracers. No pod have rear-view mirrors, since looking at them could easily break a racer's concentration, and cause him to crash. Anakin had to hear pods behind him, and on the side of him. After all, Noko wasn't exactly teaching Anakin how to win a podrace, she was teaching him how to survive a podrace.

The arena was directly ahead of them…and so was a podracer lined on the track. Anakin hit the breaks, trying to pull into a repair pit.

"Anakin, what's wrong?"

"There's a pod on the track."

"What? Which one?"

"A…a green one."

Anakin pulled into the closest repair pit, and killed the engine while Noko zoomed past him, and pulled up to the pod. The pod's engines were massive, probably the size of Sebulba's: illegally big. The engines were green with white and purple designs, and were configured into a cone shape that ended in a box. The paint was brand new, and there was no sign of a dent anywhere on the engines. About six meters away, and attached to a sturdy cord was the unusual pod cockpit. The cockpit was a swoop bike, similar to Anakins! Handlebars, pedals, laid back seat and all, the swoop was painted green with the silver symbol that looked like the one on Vim's eye. Also, the swoop was a dangerously open cockpit for podracing. Vim could get killed just sitting in that thing and working the controls!

Standing by the engines was the tall not-so-scary man himself, checking them to see if they complied with the new parts he bought from Watto. Noko marched off her swoop like she was about to give her fake father a piece of her mind. She probably was by the look on her face.

"Vim." She said simply to him. Vim looked over at her, and smiled.

"What's the matter?" he asked, looking somewhat playful. "You look angry."

"The arena's closed until the Donic." Noko put her hands on her hips. "That's a little over a week from now."

"Oh, you haven't heard." Vim's eyebrows went up. 

"What do you mean?"

"Well, apparently, Jabba's schedule changed." Anakin heard that Vim pronounced "schedule" as "shed-ual" like the people on Coroscant did. "The race won't be happing on the day of Donic."

"Oh?"

"It's tomorrow."

Noko's eyebrows went up, and her eyes bulged in surprise.

"What?!"

"Apparently so."

"What the heck…"

"Well, the race is tomorrow, so I'm getting ready by trying out the track."

"Well, I was training Anakin here, so I don't think you should…"

"You were?" Vim shook his head with an amused chuckle. "But I thought the arena was closed."

"I work here."

"A likely excuse."

"Vim…just put your pod in the hanger, it can't be out here."

"Trust me, Noko, I won't get caught."

"Okay, I'll trust you, or else, I'll tell the arena owner."

"Look at how scared I am."

"Just be careful. Beggar's Canyon is the most dangerous track in the outer rim."

"And it's about to meet the most dangerous pilot in the outer rim. Step back." Vim went back to his work. Noko sighed and walked over back to Anakin.

"There's just no reasoning with Vim when he wants something done." She murmured, then looked up at Anakin. "Looks like we're done for the day. Racing through the canyon with him test driving is just going to be impossible."

"Okay." Anakin nodded in understanding.

"C'mon, let's get back to Watto's."

*************************************

"You've got tickets?!" Noko blinked at Watto's three-fingered hand that clutched a full quarter inch of ticket chips for the Donic Day.

"Yep." Watto grinned with a chuckle. "And justa'n time too. These are the last ones they had."

"Wow." Anakin gawked at the tickets like they were a rare treasure.

"So, your bets are on, then?" a human next to Watto named Ny Connie asked.

"Of coursa." Watto nodded at his friend. "But I warn you, prepare to lose. Sebulba always wins…isn't that right, Mooncrystal?"

"To my knowledge." Noko nodded. "Yes."

"Can I come?" Anakin asked as politely as his excitement could allow him. "Please, please, please Watto?"

"Sure." Watto chuckled at Anakin, handing him a ticket chip. "Don't lose it, or you're out of luck, okay?"

"Okay!" Anakin agreed, holding the transparent, yellow chip the size of a coin between his fingers.

"So," Watto turned to Ny Connie, "you and the others will meet me in the usual seating box tomorrow?"

"I'll be there, since I have my own ticket, and you have everyone else's." Watto glared at the tickets in his hand while Noko snickered.

"Justa get everyone gathered outside the arena when it opens," Watto replied dryly to Connie, "and we'll discuss the bets. Fine with you, Connie?"

"Fine." The ebony-skinned human nodded his hairless head. He tilted his head slightly to Anakin, and snuck a wink at the boy. "I'll be there. You be there too, Anakin."

"I will." Anakin nodded.

"Well, I be off now." Connie announced. "See you all at the arena."

"I have to get going too." Noko also announced. "My work day's over, and I need to get up super early tomorrow."

"Wish Sebulba luck for me." Watto called to Noko as she and Connie left for the door.

"When has he ever needed it?!" Noko called over her shoulder to Watto. "Hey 'Walker, see you at the arena tomorrow."

"Bye!" Anakin waved his friends out the door. 

"Anakin," Watto called attention to the boy, "clean up for the day, and I'll close the shop."

"Yipee!" Anakin cheered as he went to get the sandstat to clean up the floors.

*******************************

The next day, the streets were being emptied of all occupants, and headed to the arena for the Donic Day race. Small booths and stalls selling various odds and ends were opened to attract customers to them on the way to the event. The enormous arena loomed over uptown Mos Espa like a mountain, acting as a homing beacon to the spectators and racers alike. Chatter, laughing, screaming, threats for money, all sorts of noises and conversation filled the streets. All were excited about the race, and the possible events to come.

Anakin, Jaike, and his grubs hurried through the streets, constantly wiggling through several crowds of spectators to hurry to the arena and get to their seats. Only, Jaike wasn't exactly going to the arena to watch the race…he was mostly following Anakin, and complaining.

"How come you didn't give me tickets?" Jaike moaned as he dodged an elbow about to shove him aside.

"I forgot to ask, sorry Jaike." Anakin breathed as he ran.

"No problem, I guess, Anakin. However, I'm not sure how I'm going to get the grubs and myself free seats."

"Why don't you perform your tricks?" Anakin asked, looking over his shoulder momentarily.

"Cause I forgot my rug and coin cup." Jaike explained, stepping around a Mon Calamari to catch up with the boy. 

"Well," Anakin sighed, "I dunn…" Suddenly, he bumped into someone, and fell over onto the ground. He looked up at the person he bumped into to see that it was…

"Amee!" Anakin cried, looking happier. He instantly got up. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"Anakin!" Amee cried happily, with a giggle. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to watch the race."

"My daddy's taking me to watch the race too."

"Amee!" The sharp voice of Lepin Xerx stabbed into the reunion. "Keep up, or I'll leave you behind!"

"Coming, daddy!" Amee ran directly to her father, staying close. Anakin noticed how the old man refused to hold his daughter's hand as they walked. By her father's side, the slave couldn't say goodbye to her new friend; all she could do was look behind her and at the slave boy. Anakin waved to her.

"See you later, Amee!" he called. "Hey, Jaike, let's keep going. We're almost there!"

*************************************

"PHWEEEEEEEEEEET! Anakin!" 

Anakin turned his head to the whistler. He saw the tall, not-so-scary man in a tan racing outfit leaning against the wall of the stadium entrance. 

"Hi Vim!" Anakin called, running over to him. Vim suddenly laughed.

"And I didn't scare you that time. Came here to see the race?"

"Yep. I've got my own ticket. See?" He held it up for Vim to see. The humanoid smiled at it.

"Yes, I see. Who are you betting on?"

"Uh, I'm not old enough to bet."

"You aren't?" Vim blinked. "You're a mechanic for a parts salesman, and you can't bet on a race?"

"Well, I kinda don't have the money."

"Oh, I see. The old man doesn't pay you very well?"

"Not really. I get three to six truggets a day."

"Not bad…I guess. I'm not good with the currency around here." He shifted slightly, revealing the helmet cradled in the crook of his right arm. "Hey, why don't you come inside the hanger with me? Check out a few pods, see what it's like behind the scenes?"

"Okay!" Anakin eagerly accepted. "C'mon Jaike!"

"Something tells me I should wait outside." Jaike half-frowned, looking up at Vim. "I'll see ya later, Annie."

"Okay, later." Anakin waved as he followed Vim inside the hanger.

**********************************

"Can you do me a favor for a minute, Anakin?" Vim quietly asked Anakin as they walked through the pod hanger.

"Yeah?"

"I can't read these glyphs they put on my helmet." Vim looked a little embarrassed as he pointed to the Huttese numbers painted red onto his white helmet. "What do they say?" He knew that he was supposed to know the written language before he came to Tatooine, and his lack of knowledge of the planet was making him embarrassed. Anakin looked at the numbers, and read them aloud to Vim.

"68."

"Thanks."

"Sure." Anakin nodded. Then he spied Vim's pod, and he saw the rust-painted pit droids fine-tuning and preparing Vim's prized pod. Vim guided Anakin over to the pod, where an empty chair waited for the racer. Vim took a seat, and waved a hand at some nearby idle women. The four, human women walked over and stood behind him, as if ready for a command. To Anakin's surprise, Vim did give them a command.

"Get this boy a chair, if you please." He quietly ordered the women. They bowed, and promptly left.

"Who are they?" Anakin asked Vim.

"Servants." Vim answered. The women later came back with a small foldout chair, and folded it to a stand before Anakin. It was then that Anakin noticed that the women were dressed in exotic, revealing clothes made of cloth tightly wrapped around their bodies to hide their…woman parts. Anakin couldn't help but stare; he had never seen anything like it, even at the weekly slave auctions.

"Uh, Vim?" Anakin said shakily as he sat down, and the women moved over to the humanoid podracer, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Ask as many as you like." Vim invited as the woman surrounded him, and one gave him a massage.

"Well…uh…what exactly are you?"

Vim smiled with a strange specie of sigh. He seemed to have been asked that question a lot in his life. 

"If you want to know my profession, I'm a pod racer, and a manager for a pod manufacturing company. If you want to know my specie of alien origin, well, I am known as a Nagai Warrior from a system outside the galaxy you live in."

"Outside the known galaxy?" Anakin blinked in surprise. He could believe that easily enough.

"Is there an echo?" Vim smiled. His voice became a little quieter, and gained a soothing sound to his voice, like he was lulling a baby to sleep. "My people are a warrior race where we gain a thrill through fighting or dangerous sports. I found podracing to be a good pastime for myself, and I still do to this day."

"So, what planet are you from? How did you get here?"

"Obviously, I left my homeworld for the thrill of adventure…podracing, of course. My travels took me to Malastare, where I discovered and raised an abandoned human child: your friend, Noko. After becoming a professional podracer in the Galactic Podracing Circuit, I also became the podracing champion of Malastare."

"Wow." Anakin breathed. 

"This is where my servants come in." Vim explained, taking one of the women's hands, and bringing it gently to his lips. "My fame and, I'm also afraid to say, my good looks attracted many females into my," then he whispered, "reluctant" then went back to talking service. They aren't slaves, they work for me by will, and I do pay them for what they do."

"Oh." Anakin sighed, looking down at his shoes in worry. He didn't know what to make of Vimmai at all. He was a strange guy; he seemed okay at first, and now he was getting very very strange…and a little scary too…

"Something wrong, Anakin?" Vim asked, a little concerned.

"No." Anakin shook his head. "Hey, I've got to get going. Thanks for inviting me over here."

"A friend of Walkaru's is a friend of mine, Anakin. You're always welcome to anything of mine. Say hi to Noko for me, and beware the Dug while you're over there."

"Why's that?"

"Well, Noko told me a little story about you and Sebulba's most prized possession that happened a few weeks ago. Sebulba's still not happy about that little joyride you took." He grinned, showing his fangs. "That Dug holds grudges with an iron fist, so watch yourself over there."

"Okay." Anakin smiled. He jumped out of the chair, and headed over to Sebulba's pod. "Bye, Vim. Good luck."

"Not that I need it, Anakin. Take care." Vim waved, then his attention wavered to his servant women. Anakin spied the bright orange pod easily, since it was one of the largest pods in the hanger. Anakin walked up, seeing a huge mechanic crew of Barada and a few humans no younger than twenty making last minute tests and preparations with the pod engines and attached cockpit. Sebulba was overseeing them with a short female human with long, blond hair and a black jumpsuit. The female, in a high, casual voice would instruct the Barada in most of their work, while looking to an in-hand data pad of unknown contents to Anakin. Occasionally, the podracing Dug would bark and hiss at the Barada in a sharp, quick, and harsh language that was like hearing a Tusken Raider with sinus trouble. Anakin walked around them, past their backs so they wouldn't notice him.

He spotted Noko nearby, talking back to a tuniced man wearing a red hat with yellow flanking. Noko spoke angry Huttese to him, telling him bluntly and profoundly to go away and leave Sebulba and his pod alone. Anakin watched in horrified surprise as Noko used every profound and vulgar Huttese word to the man known to even a Hutt. With each word, her voice gained volume, until it became loud enough for Sebulba's ears to start flicking in annoyance. Taking his leave from supervising his pod, he walked over past Anakin, ignoring the boy, and to Noko.

"What is the matter with you?" he asked calmly to his mechanic.

"Safety inspector." Noko pointed her thumb to the man in the red and yellow hat. "Enough said." Sebulba looked up at the man, who was at least twice the Dug's small size.

"I won't be as blunt as my chief mechanic here," Sebulba growled up to the human, "but I will be a little saner about it. I've told you time and again that my pod meets conditions satisfactory. Is this understood so far?"

"But…" the man stammered, looking over his datapad nervously, "according to my records here, your pod hasn't seen an inspector for over three years."

"That's because I have an expert working for me." Sebulba answered a little tougher, glancing up at Noko for the inspector's reference. "She would know if my pod meets standards, and it does; it meets every standard imaginable."

"But…the Tatooine officials of the Galactic Podracing Circuit are…"

"Are you new to this job?"

"Excuse me?"

"Let me repeat myself, which I don't like to do. Are you knew at your job?"

"No, not exactly."

"Very interesting. Check with your fellow inspectors when you have the time. They will tell you, most from personal experience, that it isn't wise to question a Dug's motives. Isn't that right, Noko?"

"It isn't wise to question a Malastarian in general." She nodded. "Especially Sebulba."

"I see." The inspector nodded, a little frightened.

"Now," Sebulba clapped his feet together and rubbed them slightly, "why don't you move along to the next pod."

"Absolutely." The inspector nodded again, as though he had given Sebulba's pod a thorough check, and tapped in a small command into his datapad. "I just need your racing number…"

"32." 

"Thank you, sir. Good luck in the race." With that, the inspector left. Anakin watched the inspector walk over to the pod next to Sebulba's as though he wasn't even intimidated by the Dug's threats combined with a cool head and attitude.

"An absolute loser, isn't he?" Sebulba's voice asked from behind Anakin, making the boy jump and turn around in surprise. The Dug was standing right behind him, legs crossed over his chest, and smiling through his thin lips. "Inspectors are a complete pain in the career. You'll understand one day." He gave Anakin a very evil grin. "Hey there, how goes it?"

"Oh, h-h-hi Sebulba." Anakin smiled nervously. "G-good luck in the race."

"Never needed it." Sebulba shook his head. "C'mon. What are you really here for?"

"I-I-I-I just wanted to…uh…I was…"

"…wanting to see Noko?" Sebulba attempted to finish Anakin's stammerings. "What a coincidence, she's been seeing you a lot lately, I wonder why." It wasn't a question; he knew that his most trusted friend was holding something out on him, and Anakin was in the dead center of Noko's view of the picture. Anakin began to grow nervous.

"Anakin!" Noko's surprised cry suddenly broke Sebulba's attention from the boy. Noko walked up from behind Sebulba, and looked down at Anakin. "What are you doing in here?"

"Vim invited me in." Anakin answered, losing his fear of Sebulba. "He just wanted me to see his pod. He says hi."

"Okay." Noko nodded. "Well, you better get going before someone from personnel finds you. Besides, the race is going to start soon, better get to your seat. Still got your ticket?"

"Uh-huh!" Anakin held it up for her to see.

"Okay, I'll see you later." Noko smiled. As Anakin started to say "bye," Sebulba caught the boy's shoulder, and whispered crudely into Anakin's ear in his best Basic: 

"Nho yhu won't." Then, Sebulba trotted off and back to his inspections.

"Bye, Walker." Anakin waved to Noko, then ran for the hanger doors and for the arena seating area. The race was going to start in twenty minutes!

To be continued

Next: Secret of the Nabai


End file.
